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Red Dead Redemption star teases he "cannot wait" for us to know about a big announcement that's coming "before Friday"

Red Dead Redemption star says he “possibly misled some people” but insists “exciting” news is still on the way

by admin June 21, 2025

Red Dead Redemption 2 actor said he “possibly misled some people” when he teased a Red Dead Redemption-related announcement was on the way.

Last week, John Marston himself – or, at least, the actor who brings him to life, Rob Wiethoff – was very excited indeed about an upcoming announcement, stressing that he was particularly excited as he livestreamed “this game”, the original Red Dead Redemption. His tease came just days after we heard another rumour that Red Dead Redemption 2 may be getting a next-gen update alongside a Nintendo Switch 2 port, and Roger Clark – who portrays Red Dead 2’s Arthur Morgan – backed up Wiethoff’s tease.

Now, however, Wiethoff has walked back his comments, reminding fans that he “do[es] not make announcements for Rockstar Games”, yet still insists he has something exciting to tell us.

Gym Buddy with Rob Wiethoff.Watch on YouTube

“There’s one more thing I wanna say,” Wiethoff told his viewers on YouTube as he introduced a livestreamed gym buddy session on YouTube. “I don’t know how to say this exactly, I’ll just say the one thing, uh, that I need to say, and I think all of you recognise this and know this, anyway.

“I do have something I’m really excited about. I truly am. And I think you will be, too, I really do think so. But I possibly, uh, misled some people when I announced that I have something to announce that I can’t talk about right now. Just please recognise – and I know that you know this – but let me remind you, I guess: I do not make announcements for Rockstar Games. We all know that. I’m just reminding you. I do not make announcements for Rockstar Games. Rockstar Games makes announcements for Rockstar Games, and they don’t use me to do that. So please know that.

“And again, I still think that, uh, a lot of you are going to be really excited about this news. Absolutely. Also, I can’t share it with you yet. And I’m so sorry,” he finished. “But I truly am that excited. That’s all I’m gonna say about that right now.”

Shortly thereafter, fans noticed a main cast reunion was scheduled for the National Gaming Expo in Tampa, Florida, from 8th-10th August, leading some to think this could be the “announcement” he was excited about (thanks, Push Square). The line-up for that was announced several weeks back, though, which doesn’t quite track with Wiethoff’s timeline.

Whatever it is, the announcement has seemingly been delayed. Going by Wiethoff’s original tease, we should’ve finally found out by yesterday, 20th June. However, when asked by a fan today, 21st June, for an update, he replied: “It’s coming. Sorry for the delay. Ha! There are a lot of moving parts. We want to get this right. I think it will be clear why once we’re able to say what’s going on.

“I can assure you, I want to tell you as soon as possible. Ha! I love it. Let’s goooooooo!”

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Trumps May Have Sold WLFI (USD1) Stake as U.S. Stablecoins See Wave of Good News

by admin June 21, 2025

Stablecoins are enjoying a moment in U.S. policy circles as the Senate just passed a regulation bill with major bipartisan numbers. As that moment approached, President Donald Trump and his family apparently offloaded about 20% of their stake in the parent company controlling World Liberty Financial, a crypto business that includes its own stablecoin.

DT Marks DEFI LLC is a company that now owns about 40% of the holding company over WLFI, down from an earlier 60%, according to the legal disclosures at the bottom of the platform’s website. DT Marks DEFI is “an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members,” it says.

Trump’s crypto dealings are extensive and have reportedly directly gained him tens of millions of dollars, at least, but they’ve also taken a starring role in the debate over digital assets regulation in the U.S. The stablecoin bill that is now in the hands of the House of Representatives was temporarily stalled in the Senate as Democrats made noise about Trump’s own stablecoin operation.

Despite corruption complaints from lawmakers such as Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and arguments that it’s inappropriate for the president to be taking a hand in the regulation of his own business, the advancement of the bill potentially leaves World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin approaching steadier footing, assuming the company is prepared to comply with rigorous reserve and oversight demands.

While Trump’s political allies and his administration claim his business ties are transparent, the family’s crypto dealings remain murky, without full disclosures of the business stakes of individual members, including the president. It is still unclear what the family’s specific ownership or management involvement may be with World Liberty Financial.

Representatives from WLFI and Trump’s business interests didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from CoinDesk.

And his growing ties to crypto don’t end there. Trump drew the bulk of recent criticism for his hosting of a private dinner for the leading investors in his personal memecoin, many of whom were foreign nationals and went unidentified to the public. The one-time crypto skeptic has sold multiple rounds of non-fungible tokens (NFTs); his media company announced this year it was raising $2.5 billion to build a bitcoin treasury; and son Eric has been helping run a new bitcoin mining venture. There are few corners of the industry the president doesn’t have close connections to.

Read More: Trump’s Empire Pulled In $57M From Family-Linked Crypto Firm Last Year, Filing Shows

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Grounded 2: Key details and latest news, summarized by humans

by admin June 20, 2025

Grounded 2 is just around the corner, and it’s looking like you can expect big things from this tiny survival-crafter.

Five years after its predecessor entered early access, Grounded 2 was announced at the recent Xbox Games Showcase and promised to deliver even wilder miniaturised adventures for fans of the original game. Hey, we’re even wandering beyond the confines of the back yard this time.

I’ve brought together all the need-to-know info on Grounded 2, so you can stay up to date with all the key details on the upcoming sequel. Whether you’re looking to be filled in on Grounded 2’s early release date, gameplay, story, or story, it’s all here.

Grounded 2 release date and platforms

Early access for Grounded 2 begins July 29 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, meaning it really won’t be long until you’re ant-sized and battling bugs once again. That said, it’s difficult to say exactly how long the game will be in this early access period.

Grounded spent about two years in Xbox Game Preview before the full version’s release in 2022, if that’s anything to go by. However, what’ll really be the deciding factors behind when the 1.0 release drops are how the development team’s early access roadmap pans out, and how the existing build is received by players.

Will Grounded 2 be available on Xbox Game Pass?

(Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

Grounded 2 will be available on PC and Xbox Game Pass during early access. Given that the small print doesn’t specify a particular Xbox Game Pass tier, it’s safe to assume that all subscribers (from Core to Ultimate) will be able to play Grounded 2 as part of their subscription.

When is Grounded 2 coming to Playstation and Switch?

As of yet, there hasn’t been any indication of Grounded 2 coming to Playstation 5 or Nintendo Switch 2. For reference, it took two years after Grounded’s full release for the game to come to a platform other than PC and Xbox. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Grounded 2 receive a similar timed exclusive treatment.

Grounded 2 trailers

Grounded 2 – Official Announce Trailer – YouTube

Watch On

Grounded 2 was the big surprise during Xbox’s Summer Showcase this year. We got our first look at the Grounded sequel just over a month prior to its early access release.

The announcement trailer opened with an in-universe TV commercial for a new Yoked Girth toy (Grounded’s silly, muscle-bound parody of He-Man) before cutting into a breaking news segment. Here, we learn that—two years after their original ordeal at the hands of Ominent—the four teens from Grounded have mysteriously vanished.

What the authorities don’t realise is that the teens are still in the park where they went ‘missing’; they’ve just been shrunken to approximately the size of an ant… again. The rest of the trailer shows the teens fighting and exploring through the abandoned park, taking on everything from battling scorpions to climbing giant mountains of ice cream.

Grounded 2 story

(Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

Grounded 2 takes place in 1992, two years after the events of Grounded. As far as the public are concerned, Ominent—the malevolent corporation behind the events of the first game—is undergoing a bit of a redemption arc, as the company dedicates a statue to the four teen heroes that turned Dalton Schmector into the authorities. However, the reality of the situation is a bit more complicated than that.

During the unveiling ceremony in Brookhollow Park, an explosion erupts (a distraction or a malfunctioning SPAC.R?) leading to the apparent disappearance of the kids and Dr. Tully.

In actuality, the teenagers have been shrunken down and are fighting for survival in the grass below everyone’s feet. You take up the role of one of these puny protagonists and work to embiggen yourself once more, all while taking on the deadly threats found within the park and discovering who exactly is behind the plot to shrink you in the first place.

Yeah, yeah. That’s cool and all but will Grounded 2 finally reveal the identity of the fifth teen?

Grounded isn’t all base building and figuring out how to perfect block; there’s a surprising bit of lore too. A lingering question that has bugged players since the release of the first game is who exactly emerged from that fifth slot in the kid case. While the remains of a camp that seemingly belonged to the fifth teen in the first game, their fate is unknown. We don’t even know if they survived the challenges of the backyard.

That said, there are some clues that suggest the missing fifth kid might play a role in Grounded 2. For one, the Steam page for the game reads, “something else is out there, and it hasn’t forgotten you,” which leaves room to theorise that the fifth kid could’ve survived to hold a grudge against the other four for leaving them behind. So, we might see the fifth teen in Grounded 2… but they could be a friend or a foe.

Grounded 2 gameplay

(Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

While Grounded 2’s gameplay will feature the same mix of building, exploration, combat, and survival, there are a couple of key changes in the sequel that we’ve already gotten a glimpse at.

For starters, Grounded 2’s map is three times bigger than the first game’s. With such a big world to explore, your little legs can only take you so far before your stamina starts to take a hit. To help lighten the load and get you where you need to go faster, Grounded 2 introduces a new variety of insect mounts called buggies.

Alongside helping you to get from A to B(ee), buggies also offer support with exploration, building, and combat, with each species having its one set of unique abilities. We haven’t gotten a full picture of every kind of buggy the game will include, but we do know you definitely can pop a saddle on a red ant or opt to ride an orb weaver spider for some hardcore arachnophobia exposure therapy.

Another new addition in Grounded 2 is the Omni-tool. While inventory management may be some folks’ idea of meditation, it can also be an unwelcome distraction from the real business of surviving and/or crafting. To save you the hassle of juggling a shovel, an axe, a hammer, and a wrench in your backpack all at once, Grounded 2 graces players with the Omni-tool, which does the job of all four tools in one.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

A close-up shot of James Bone in 007 First Light wearing dark sunglasses and a pink shirt in a tropical location

Product Reviews

007 First Light: Key details and latest news, summarized by humans

by admin June 20, 2025

The cover’s blown on 007 First Light, IO Interactive’s stealth action game starring a young James Bond. After some teasing and years of quiet work on “Project 007,” we finally know what kind of game the Hitman developer has been cooking up for the iconic character. A short trailer that debuted during Sony’s June State of Play gave us a look at 007 First Light’s original version of Bond, the many locations the story will take us to, and a release date. Well, okay, a release year.

First Light’s announcement trailer has moments that look quite a lot like Hitman as Bond ducks behind cover and tosses objects at enemies, but it also seems to have the kind of explosive action setpieces ripped right out of the films. Unlike Agent 47, though, this baby-faced Bond has a lot to learn before he can truly take on the role of MI6’s spy extraordinaire.

Here are all the details we’ve been able to decode from Bond’s dossier so far.

007 First Light release details

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

007 First Light will be released sometime in 2026 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. IO Interactive didn’t give an exact date at the end of the announcement trailer during Sony’s June State of Play, but it did promise to reveal more about it later this summer. The trailer also mentions that signing up for an IO Interactive account on the website will unlock the “On Duty” skin for Bond and the “Gilded Wraith” golden weapon skin—which are the kind of concrete in-game bonuses that make me think it’s far enough along that it’ll drop earlier, rather than later, in the year.

007 Fight Light trailers and gameplay footage

007 First Light – Announcement Trailer – YouTube

Watch On

A lot of details are packed into the opening conversation in 007 First Light’s announcement trailer. We not only get a sense of the tone IO Interactive is going for, but a broad picture of its version of Bond through the eyes of his handlers. They describe him as a “bullet without a target,” much like how creator Ian Fleming conceptualized the character back in 1953 as a blunt instrument wielded by the government. This Bond is young, naive, reckless, and unbelievably lucky when things go awry—a perfect lump of clay for MI6 to mold into a dashing killer.

The rest of the trailer plants the seeds for what kind of gadgets and weapons we’ll be able to use as we chase our target, rogue agent 009, across the globe. There’s a watch that sparks a jet engine in a dirt bike, detective vision for highlighting nearby enemies, some kind of pocket tranquilizer dart, a wristwatch laser beam, cars, boats, and a whole arsenal of guns.

Exclusive interview with IO Interactive

007 First Light: Exclusive behind the scenes developer interview – PC Gaming Show 2025 – YouTube

Watch On

We visited IO Interactive for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the development of 007 First Light. Check it out!

007 First Light story and setting details

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

We only have the announcement trailer to work off of, but thankfully it’s packed with hints at what we can expect as Bond earns his numbers in 007 First Light. MI6 recruits Bond after making a surprisingly heroic act on a mission in Iceland and fires him directly at rogue agent 009. The trailer shows several brief shots of all the places Bond will visit as he tracks his target down.

Here’s everything about 007 First Light’s story we know so far:

After losing his parents on a climbing expedition when he was 11, this version of Bond rabble roused through several boarding schools before ending up in the royal navy
The story is set in the modern day and begins with a 26-year-old Bond who’s picked up by MI6 after a heroic act during an Iceland mission
His mentor, Greenway, thinks he’s a risk, but reluctantly agrees to train him
Rogue agent 009 is his target and is described as a “master manipulator”
Bond will travel to several locations, including what looks like Slovakia and Vietnam
Familiar characters from the franchise will return, including M, Q, and Moneypenny
At some point Bond and Greenway will be tied up in a pit full of crocodiles

007 First Light gameplay features

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

The announcement trailer made it pretty clear that 007 First Light will be a third-person stealth action game that leans more toward the action. There will be a variety of levels set around the world with objectives to chase after. And once you finish the campaign, you’ll be able to revisit each mission with “additional modifiers,” much like Escalations in Hitman.

IO Interactive has been clear about one thing though: 007 First Light isn’t Hitman with James Bond. Agent 47 may be a trained killer like Bond, but his speciality is getting the job done completely undetected. Bond’s approach “has a lot more forward momentum,” narrative and cinematic director Martin Emborg told told PC Gamer in an exclusive interview.

“You need a lot of patience to play Hitman,” Emborg said. “You need to be sitting there seeing the patrol—he goes over there, and he likes wine, and you overhear that thing. But Bond, he can also just walk through the front door. ‘I’m actually just going to go and talk to them. I’m just going to go punch him right now’.”

IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak told PC Gamer that there are “elements in the game that you would expect from IO Interactive—with the freedom of approach, solving puzzles in different ways, and social spaces that are very deep with rich crowds.” But despite having some major differences from Hitman, Abrak said that, for the team, 007 First Light is “all that skill, all that practice coming together and finally seeing the ultimate spy fantasy come to life.”

It’s frighteningly possible Bond knows what TikTok is

(Image credit: IO Interactive)

Look at him: He’s a barely-out-of-school twenty-something who probably grew up with an iPad. There’s no way he knows what a cassette tape is—which has me convinced he’s got TikTok installed on his phone. I just need one mission to involve Rainbolting the location of a target via someone doing a viral dance on a fake TikTok video.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Solana Price Falls on Macro Jitters Despite Bullish News From Major SOL HODLer

by admin June 19, 2025

Solana’s native token, SOL

, dropped to $143.38 Tuesday, down 1.21%, closing near the day’s low after failing to hold above $147, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model.

The weakness came even as the ecosystem drew fresh institutional backing: Canadian blockchain investor Sol Strategies filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 18 to pursue a Nasdaq listing under the ticker STKE.

While the filing itself is not an immediate market mover, it highlights a growing institutional commitment to Solana’s long-term outlook. Sol Strategies disclosed earlier this month that it holds more than 420,000 SOL, worth over $61 million, and has made SOL the centerpiece of its treasury strategy. The firm is also seeking regulatory approval in Canada to raise up to $1 billion, in addition to an earlier $500 million convertible note issuance in April used to acquire and stake SOL.

Despite these bullish signals, SOL continues to trade defensively. Price action has been confined to a horizontal band for much of the past week, with the most recent breakout attempt above $147.80 failing to generate follow-through. Bears regained control during the final hours of trading, pushing SOL below the $144 psychological support. With price trending below major moving averages and volume tapering off mid-session, sentiment remains fragile even as long-term backing intensifies.

Technical Analysis Highlights

SOL traded in a 24-hour range from $143.23 to $147.80, a 2.83% swing.
Resistance held at $147.80 after a failed breakout during the 22:00 UTC candle on June 18.
Price declined steadily to $143.38, closing near the low after weak recovery attempts.
Sellers were active between 13:46–14:00 UTC, with a drop from $144.62 to $143.38 on strong downside momentum.
The $144–$145 zone remains critical; failure to reclaim it may open a path toward deeper support near $140.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

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June 19, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Elden Ring Nightreign’s latest patch is good news for madness fans, and should save you from auto-death after boss fight revives

by admin June 19, 2025

Elden Ring Nightreign. It’s gotten another patch, and while not as beefy as you might like, it’s a box of bug fixes that you should know about. Especially if you’ve ever been fighting a Nightlord, gone down, been revived, and then immediately flopped back down dead.

Also, there’s a single balancing tweak which goes one step beyond to encourage the use of madness-infused weapons that I’m sure would look good with your baggy trousers.

As outlined in the notes for Version 1.01.3, the latest effort on FromSoft’s part to beat the bug bosses into submission via Carian code cutlasses, that sole balancing change is an increase to your chance of obtaining weapons with the madness status ailment. So, if you’ve yet to have a go at frenzying everything in sight, now’s your chance.

Delving into the bug fixes, one’s for an issue “where players would lose a battle after being revived from near death against a Nightlord or other Night bosses”. Judging by Reddit, this was just as frustrating to encounter as it sounds, with one player dubbing it a “hidden bossfight” and another likening it to psychological horror. A hidden bossfight in a FromSoft game that I’m not discovering via a video of a streamer beating it using a dance pad, cool.

Others rectify stuff like the Demon Merchant spawning near the Night’s Tide when you run into the Demon Merchant curse event, the damage dealt to some enemies when sniping weak points via Ironeye’s “Marking” skill not being right, and folks being able to nullify incoming Lightning Damage when affected by the Bolt of Gransax’s passive effect Power of the Great Ancient Dragon.

FromSoft also note that they’ve added “staff information” to the game’s credits, which is good to see. The final tweak I think it’s worth mentioning before directing you to check out the full notes if you want the rest is Steam-specific. It should stop the game freezing “momentarily or for an extended period in some environments” on PC, which is handy.

If you’ve not given Nightreign a go yet, make sure to check out Nic’s review of it and the stuff FromSoft has confirmed is coming to it down the road.

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June 19, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

BTC Tops $108K on JPMorgan Crypto Filing, XRP Rallies on ETF News

by admin June 17, 2025

Crypto markets pushed higher on Monday as traders have shifted focus from geopolitical anxieties to crypto-related institutional developments ahead of the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting.

Bitcoin

has risen 3.1% in the last 24 hours and is now trading for $108,600, only a couple of thousand dollars below its all-time record. It certainly wasn’t alone in its ascension. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, memecoins and exchange coins — is up 4.3% in the same period of time, buoyed by strong performances from and chainlink , which both notched 6-7% gains, and most other tokens rising at least 3%.

A check at traditional markets shows that risk appetite has returned after last week’s jitters on Israel and Iran launching missiles. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes bounced 0.9% and 1.4%, while safe haven gold declined 1.5%.

Crypto stocks also joined the surge. Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) closed the day 7.7% and 13% in the green. Among bitcoin miners, Bitdeer (BTDR) and Hut 8 (HUT) gained 6.9% and 5.6% respectively. Remarkably, one of the only equities in the red was Strategy (MSTR), which lost almost 0.2%, while rival bitcoin treasury companies Metaplanet rose 25% on the Japanese stock market.

Positive crypto-related news added further fuel to today’s rally: JPMorgan has filed a trademark application for a product that seeks to offer digital asset services such as trading, exchange, payment services and issuance. Meanwhile, asset manager Purpose is set to launch its spot XRP exchange-traded fund in Canada as momentum for altcoin-focused ETFs grows.

When altcoin season?

While today’s altcoin outperformance may have inspired some traders’ hope for an imminent alt season, Nansen research analyst Nicolai Søndergaard poured cold water on such expectations.

It’s still bitcoin that’s leading the market, he said, with strength often tracing back to the largest crypto’s performance.

“BTC has mostly served as a trigger for altcoins,” Søndergaard. “Some alts also do well. BTC breaks an ATH? The market likes that.” Some profits from BTC’s rise to fresh record high may have trickled down to other cryptos, while some sectors such as DeFi have enjoyed short-term bursts of outperformance.

“These have, however, not been prolonged runs for alts, and looking at the grand scheme of things, most alts have been bleeding for some time,” he said. The focus is still very much on BTC.”

Bitcoin’s strong rebound from Friday’s low could bode well for the crypto market.

Bitfinex analysts noted that the sentiment index Fear and Greed Index dropped into “Fear” territory last week, while Bitcoin’s Net Taker Volume showed aggressive selling.

“This behavior, combined with a spike in liquidations, resembles past capitulation-style setups that often mark local bottoms,” the analysts said. “If BTC can hold the $102,000-$103,000 zone, it may suggest that selling pressure is being absorbed and that the market could be primed for recovery.”

Eyes on the Fed and Powell

From a macro lens, attention is squarely on the Federal Reserve and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference.

Investors overwhelmingly expect the Fed to keep benchmark rates steady this week and the following meeting in July, according to the CME FedWatch tool, market participants will focus on Powell’s remarks about clues on how policymakers navigate inflation and job market pressures.

“Powell’s tone, not the rate decision, will drive volatility,” digital asset analytics firm Swissblock said in a Monday note. “Expect whiplash trading across commodities, yields and risk assets.”

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June 17, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

$80 Popcorn Buckets And A Dumb Hat Top The Week’s Weirdest News

by admin June 14, 2025

Photo: Kotaku, Screenshot: Build A Rocket Boy / ExtraEmily / Kotaku, Nintendo / Kotaku, Image: Marvel / AMC / Kotaku, Nintendo / Kotaku, Wizards of the Coast / Joshua Raphael, 1047 Games / Kotaku, Kotaku

It’s a little funny to consider the following stories “news” given the state of the world right now. I’m tempted to explain what I mean by that, but I’m just as happy to let that sentence be an ink blot test, revealing just what type of person you are based on the first thing that pops into your mind. (If the thought of that angers you, then I guess you have your answer.)

Nevertheless, read on for very important information about expensive popcorn buckets, Switch 2 settings (and astronomical sales), a disastrous launch week for MindsEye, an editorial revolt at Wikipedia over AI (okay, that one actually is kind of important), and more.

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June 14, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

There’s Good And Bad News For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

by admin June 14, 2025

In a streaming world where new series are decreasingly unlikely to get a second season (let alone a third) even if they appear to perform incredibly well, it’s something of a treat that Paramount keeps giving its various incarnations of Star Trek five season runs. The company has recently announced, ahead of the start of the third season of the best of all those shows, Strange New Worlds, that it’s to get a fourth and a fifth season too! Woo! Although that fifth run will be truncated, and be its last. Boo!

A Hot-Fix Is On The Way For MindsEye’s Frustrating CPR Mini-Game

The experiments in the final frontier have had mixed results over the last decade. Beginning with the very promising Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, the long-abandoned television franchise returned from a 12-year hiatus since the (merciful) demise of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005—a period that had otherwise only been populated by J. J. Abrams aimless and soon-abandoned reboot movies. This was then followed in 2020 by Picard, quickly accompanied by animated comedy Lower Decks, kids animation Prodigy in 2021, and then in 2022 the beginning of Strange New Worlds.

Now, clearly making judgement on anything Star Trek is a surefire way to get a person in all manner of trouble, but who cares: Discovery’s five seasons offered diminishing returns, its fourth series reaching a nadir of utter dreadfulness that was only mildly improved upon in its fifth meandering final run. Picard was so excruciatingly bad as to have been ruled illegal under the Geneva Convention, although its third and final season—while still rubbish—delivered joyfully silly fan-service as it reunited as much of the The Next Generation crew as would agree to stagger onto set. Lower Decks was utterly brilliant for five glorious years and you should watch it immediately. No one, not even the people who wrote and drew it, watched Prodigy. And Strange New Worlds has made the entire roller coaster worthwhile.

The mistake both Discovery and Picard made was to believe Star Trek was ever supposed to be more than people in pastel colors exchanging sci-fi gobbledegook, blowing up a spaceship, and then learning a jolly nice lesson in time for the credits. Presumably attempts to capture the lightning-in-a-bottle moments from the earlier series, like “The Best of Both Worlds” or “In The Pale Moonlight,” they failed to understand these only worked because they stood out from the usual amiable chatter. Both series just felt morose, hopeless, and as such, distinctly un-Trek.

Strange New Worlds (and Lower Decks for that matter) understands the brief. Set before the events of the original 1960s Star Trek TV show (well, in between the events of the pilot and the rest of the series, nerds), it span off from one of Discovery’s finer moments, as we see Captain Pike faced with a vision of a gruesome accident that would ruin his life. But, put that aside, because now we’re off to enjoy the voyages of the Starship Enterprise before Kirk gets into the captain’s chair, and it’s going to be so much fun.

Screenshot: Paramount / Kotaku

The previous two seasons of Strange New Worlds have brought us some of the best Star Trek ever. It’s bright, and positive, and features an incredibly capable crew driven to be a force of good in the galaxy. They are very much on a five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no humans have gone before. And if that means getting trapped in a fairy tale, or a space creature causing the entire crew to communicate in musical numbers, then dammit they’ll do that so flipping well. And they’ll do it with impeccable haircuts.

As such, when things do get more serious, they’re mostly earned, and you know aren’t going to end in inescapable doom. (Although, let’s be fair, S02E10’s “Hegemony” was an embarrassing miss in its attempt to suddenly turn into Alien.) So, it is with absolute delight that I greet the news that Paramount is letting it serve its full five-year mission.

It’s vanishingly rare for any TV series, let alone streaming ones, to get guaranteed episodes for a further two seasons in advance. It means that on top of season three’s 10 episodes, we’re promised another 10 for season four, followed by an abbreviated six-episode run for season five. And yes, admittedly, the 26 episodes this assures us of is the same number as a single-season order for Trek in the 90s, but times have changed, and honestly, I’m grateful we get any.

Also, while I’d love the idea of the show running for as long as the cast and writers are willing, it does make a lot of sense to give SNW a termination date. As much as the joy of things as daft as seeing cartoon characters from Lower Decks appear in this live-action show distracts us, the reality is we are heading toward Pike’s accident, determined not only by his earlier vision, but also by August 23, 1969’s episode of Star Trek, when the disfigured post-accident Pike appeared, sealing his fate some 56 years ago. They can’t keep putting it off forever.

But, we’ve got a solid 20 episodes before we need to worry about any of that! And the trailer for the new season, which starts July 17, suggests it’s going to be fun times. Including Patton Oswalt as a Vulcan! And, thank goodness, it doesn’t look like Nurse Chapel is going anywhere.

It’s all on Paramount Plus, which can more conveniently be accessed through Amazon Prime, along with all the episodes of the other mentioned shows. But honestly, just watch this and Lower Decks.

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June 14, 2025 0 comments